CUT LIKE DIAMONDS
by deadpanned
Summary: "Destiny is for losers, Black. It's just a stupid excuse to wait for things to happen instead of making them happen." In which Hogwarts's queen bee and resident bad boy don't believe in true love. [ SB x OC ]
1. once upon a time

_disclaimer: i don't own harry potter my dudes, just my oc. it be like that sometimes._

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**i. once upon a time**

"What time is it?" she asked her brunette companion, leaning over to catch a glimpse of the rustic watch she had on. The brunette in question, a friendly and frankly simple witch by the name of Emmeline Vance, pulled down her sweater sleeve to obscure her watch from view, much to her annoyance.

"Exactly 34 seconds since you last asked me, Verona." she replied, giving her a pointed look. Verona sat back in her seat and let out her frustration through an exaggerated sigh. She had already eaten and disposed of all the treats she had purchased from the trolley witch, finished several more chapters of her book and changed into her hogwart's robes, how was it still not time yet?

"Just relax, would you?"

"Relax? That absolute idiot, Julius, lost my hogwarts letter before I had gotten the chance to properly read it and now I haven't a clue as to when the prefect's meeting starts and it's up to me to keep an eye out so I won't be late and completely tarnish my first impression as a model prefect, and you want me to _relax?_ I swear, it's so hard to find competent staff these days!"

Emmeline rolled her eyes. "Here's an idea, do you know who the other ravenclaw prefect is?"

Verona scoffed, "No." but a lightbulb lit up inside her head. "but I do happen to know a gryffindor one!" She shot up from her seat in their train compartment and rushed out not bothering to say goodbye.

She made her way down the narrow corridor of the hogwarts expressed which was quiet for the most part sans the steady rattling of the train as it raced onwards. The specific prefect she was in search of always rode with the same three boys and they all sat together in the same compartment every year: the second to last one, on the right.

When she finally made it to the end of the train cart, she heard their boisterous laughter barely muffled by the sliding door which she opened with ease.

"Boys," she smiled. She was greeted with the sight of four students, all clad in the signiture gryffindor colored robes lounging around a game of exploding snap.

"Ronnie!"

It seemed the summer had little to no effect on James Potter as he was still sporting the same dark mop of unruly hair (although it does seem somewhat longer and if possible, even more unkempt), lopsided spectacles, rugged jawline and easy smile as the year before. However when he shot to his feet to hug her, she saw he had grown an inch or two more so he towered even more over her.

Verona leant in as he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head in her neck. She recognized the familiar scent of his distinctive aftershave and freshly mowed grass from hours spent playing quidditch. Try as she might, her heartbeat accelerated and she hoped he couldn't feel it beating through her chest, afterall old habits die hard, and loving James was one of her worst ones.

He let go of her all too soon and she immediately missed the warmth of his touch, but kept her face impassive as he grinned at her.

"You cut your hair!" he exclaimed, toying with the now short ends. "It looks good!"

She returned his enthusiastic smile as best she could, "Yeah, I always wanted to make the cut, the split ends just sealed the deal."

Verona glanced behind him and waved at the remaining three marauders, "hello."

They chorused the normal responses of 'hello' and 'nice seeing you again' with polite smiles, but there was one marauder in particular she was avoiding all eye contact with.

Sirius Black, to his credit, played a mighty fine job of pretending her presence didn't affect him from where he sat in the corner with his arms crossed carelessly and his long legs stretched across onto the seats opposite him. The selfish part of Verona wished he would look at her and give her some kind of sign that he had been going through the same sea of emotions she had to all summer, but the wiser part of her was relieved she didn't have to face him yet.

"Here come sit with us," said James. He grabbed her hand and helped her inside, pushing Sirius' legs off the empty seats, "Shove over, Sirius." This did not seem to please him at all, she could see it in the way his mouth pressed into a firm line and his stony eyes narrowed into slits, though still directed to his best mate and not her. It seemed he couldn't even look at her, and though she would rather die than admit it outloud, it hurt a bit.

"Actually, I can't stay and chat too long – " Verona tried explaining, but James immediately protested, "but we haven't spoken all summer, come on!"

She wanted to turn and scream in his face that he should know why she hadn't written all summer, but it had been merely minutes since they'd reunited, there was no reason to stir up drama immediately.

"Okay, atleast tell me about your summer. Then, and only then, will we release you."

Why James was so insistent on speaking with her was lost on her, and somewhat suspicious. But a small, traitorous voice in the back of her head was screaming in joy, _yes! Talk to him! Stay with him!_

"Fine. My summer was bearable but just about as entertaining as Binn's attempts at stand up comedy." she told them.

"Really?" Remus asked her, curiously. "Didn't you spend it on an island though? Bora Bora was it?"

Startled, she looked at him. "Yes, but how – "

"Did we know?" he guessed. She nodded and he smiled sheepishly, "it was on the cover of_ Witch Weekly."_

Of course it was, she thought nearly rolling her eyes. A short bout of laughter escaped her, "I didn't know you were subscribed to the_ Witch Weekly,_ Remus?"

He smiled good-naturedly, "Oh it isn't me, it's Pe – "

Peter Pettigrew, the marauder she spoke to the least, swiftly covered the boy's mouth with his pudgy hand and gave her a shaky smile. "Disregard everything he's said, he's on meds you see."

Verona laughed aloud with James and Sirius at this. "Anyway, like I said. My summer was nice enough, what about you all? Any stories worth hearing?"

"Unless you want to spend the next thirty minutes talking about how James and Sirius got the house elves piss drunk enough to turn the Potter's kitchen floor into a frozen butterbeer ice rink before accidentally setting the house on fire? No."

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she tried to comprehend what Remus had said. "House elves piss dru – butterbeer ice ri – house on _fire_ – you know what? Never mind, spare me the details."

James laugh was loud and contagious, "That was a night to remember, right Sirius?"

Sirius spoke up for the first time since she'd gotten there, "One for the history books, mate." She turned to see a mischievous grin paint itself on his handsome face and he looked straight back at her. Verona's breathing hitched as blue eyes met gray. They sparkled with a roguish light, but she couldn't get a proper read of his emotions the way she could with everyone else. Sirius Black was well trained in the art of building up defenses.

All of a sudden, it felt too real. The two people she had been dreading facing the most were both looking at her now and it was making her get anxious. She had almost forgotten the whole reason she had come in search of the marauders compartment in the first place.

"Hey, Remus!" she exclaimed, turning to him. "You got gryffindor prefect right? I heard someone say while we were boarding the train."

"Yeah, I did. Did you get ravenclaw prefect?"

"As a matter of fact I did! Congratulations, by the way. But do you know when we should be going for the prefect's meeting?"

In one swift movement he reached up and grabbed fistfuls of his hair, "Merlin's beard, the meeting! Yes, yes come on Verona, it's set to start in just a minute or two!"

Not needing to be told twice, she rushed up and out of the compartment, partially glad to be relieved of both James and Sirius, but not before James followed them out.

"If you don't mind, Remus, I need to borrow Ronnie for a minute. You go on ahead," he told him.

"Borrow me?" she asked indignantly. "What about asking me if I want to be 'borrowed' first! I can't be late to the first prefect meeting – "

Remus lingered with his hands stuffed in his pockets, "James, can't it wait – "

"No, it can't. Go on then, you don't want to be late now do you Mr. Perfect-Prefect-Lupin?"

"No!" shouted Verona desperately after him. "Don't go on then! Don't leave me with this wanker!" but Remus being the ball-less bastard he is abandons her with a meaningless apologetic smile.

She turned her anger instead to the big headed, bespectacled boy in front of her. "What is it James? What was so important that you have to make a mockery out of my badge?"

"Oh," he said, awkwardly rubbing his neck. "Well, you see…"

"Spit it out, Potter!"

"Will you go to a party with me?"

Verona choked on her tongue, positive she had misheard him. Surely he wasn't inviting her – no asking her to go with him to a party – as his date…?

She moistened her chapped lips and cleared her throat, feeling nearly as awkward as James looked. "James… we broke up last year." How could he possibly think she'd say yes after he'd broken her heart? Did she seem that easy?

His hazel eyes widened behind his glasses and he shook his head, "Yeah, yeah I know, I know! Blimey, I didn't realize how that came off, sorry."

Now she was as confused as ever. Sorry? Sorry for what? Breaking up with you without proper reasoning or warning? Smiling, laughing and moving on without me? For asking me out again today?

"I wasn't asking you out on a date, Ronnie." he said gently. "I was asking for a favor. The party I'm asking you to come with me to is, well, it's my own. Well, my parents are throwing it actually, but it's all one and the same. It's just… I haven't told my mum and dad that we'd – " he cleared his throat, " – parted ways."

Oh.

"Well, neither have I if I'm being completely transparent," she admitted wringing her hands.

James' eyebrows shoot up at her confession and he asks quickly, "You haven't?"

She shook her head honestly. "I hinted at it, you know, tested the waters."

"What'd they do?"

"They immediately recommended couples counseling," she deadpanned.

"Well shit," he said blankly. She nodded, agreeing with his eloquent statement.

"It seems the only way both of our parents will accept our breaking up is if we sit them down together and talk it out, the good old fashioned way over a pint or two – "

" – we're underage – "

" – _of butterbeer, of course!_ Why, did you want something stronger, Ronnie?"

"Har-har, James Potter. You're a riot, truly."

James beamed at Verona and held out his hand, "are you in then? Will I be escorting you to the party?"

She hesitated. Going to the party with James would not only ensure falling for him further (if at all possible), but also solidify their split. They're parents wanting them together, as if they're destined for some magical happily ever after, was the only thing of significance tying them together. What if it worked? What if they succeeded in convincing their parents that they're better off broken up? What if the last string intertwining her fate with that of her prince was cut most cruelly by the hands of reality?

For a moment, she was tempted to slap his hand away. _No! I love you James! I want to stay with you! Why can't you see that?_

The two years they dated were like she grew up fantasizing, a prince and princess, soon to grow up and become Hogwarts resident power couple and blossom into the king and queen if you will. But…

But… what was the point of ruling together if the king wants nothing more than to escape both his cage and his queen?

Verona lifted her hand, grateful to see it was steady, and shook his.

"You have got yourself a fake date, Potter. Tell me the details later, but remember, dress to depress – "

James lips twitched into a soft smile as he finished his ex-girlfriend's token reminder, " – we've got to look so good, others feel bad about themselves."

**And that was the beginning of the end.**

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_hello! thank you for giving this a chance and making it thus far, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please review, I'd love to know what you think, honest opinions and criticisms are welcome too! I know it may not seem Sirius x OC yet, but I assure you this is a Sirius Black fanfiction. This is just setting up some of the plot, characters, dynamics y'know the basics :)_

_this story is inspired by several things and verona's character is inspired by two very specific things that I won't reveal yet but maybe someone will guess it eventually. this story is a big experiment for me, and I hope I finish it, although my track record for completing stories isn't that great (and im so slow with chapter updates it's pathetic yikes) but I hope you'll stay with me through this journey, however long it will be._


	2. the young get louder

_disclaimer: i don't own harry potter my dudes, just my oc. it be like that sometimes._

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**ii. the young get louder**

"C'mon Verona, we need you," Holland Rutherford, ravenclaw's elected captain for The Game, begged her for the third time, "it'll only be for one night!" It was only their second day back at Hogwarts and several of her professors had decided to welcome them with enough assignments to drive even the most studious of kids up the wall. She didn't know what to expect coming into fifth year, afterall it was OWLs year and she had seen many of her peers before her crack under the intense pressure, but she knew that she'd have to work twice as much to achieve scores high enough to be noticed by anyone important at St. Mungos Hospital.

That meant no distractions whatsoever, and Rutherford's inability to come to terms with rejection and constant pestering definitely fell under the 'distractions' category. Verona tossed her quill down and slammed her palms on the desk, the abrupt sound echoing through the quiet library.

"No, Rutherford!" she protested again, very loudly. "No, no, no! How many times do I have to say it to fix it in your thick skull?"

Madam Pince, the crazy old bat, gave her a sharp stare from across the room, a warning to quiet down. What was she glaring at Verona for? Holland was the one that couldn't keep his gob shut.

"But you're the smartest witch in ravenclaw! Maybe the whole school! If there's anyone who can decipher those barmy riddles it's you — " this was no doubt a pathetic attempt on his part to flatter her into submission, and although she wasn't necessarily the _smartest_ witch at Hogwarts, she came pretty damn close, and thus could see his underlying intentions clear as crystal. " — and you're a duelling ace! For Rowena Ravenclaw's honor, join the team!"

All four houses would compete in the annual scavenger hunt held on the first Sunday after returning to Hogwarts, a tradition sparked and since upheld by the students of their year by chance back when they were ickle firsties. It was a dangerous, adrenaline-pumping, and complicated game to bate their competitive spirits till quidditch season begins in November, and all past four years Verona had avoided participating; partly because it was against school rules and if caught playing, it held grounds for suspension (she didn't need _that _staining her perfect record), and also because it required a great amount of physical exertion that she just couldn't be bothered with.

"Holland?" she whispered, leaning in closer. He leaned towards her as well, "Yeah?"

"Has anyone told you what a horrendous liar you are?"

With an obnoxiously loud 'harrumph', he slumps back in his chair and massages his temples.

"We both know the real reason you want me on the team is because I'm James' ex-girlfriend and you think he wouldn't hex me," she pointed out. "Nice try, Rutherford but leave the manipulation to the professionals next time, yeah?"

"But that's just it! He wouldn't hex you!" Holland burst out, earning them an intense hushing from Madam Pince yet again. "and it's not manipulation per se, I prefer to call it...strategizing."

Verona rolled her eyes, deciding it was no use trying to finish her potions essay with him around to pester her and began stacking the books back into her bag. "Potato, potato, it's all one and the same. No matter how pretty you try to make it sound, at the end of the day, your intentions were deceitful."

At this, he looked slightly guilty and awkward. "Sorry, Verona."

She laughed, shaking her head, "I hope you're apologizing for ever thinking you could pull a fast one on me, the queen of scheming herself, and not for your plan. It was actually quite clever on your part, but alas, you forget that chivalry is dead and James Potter is no exception to this rule."

"James Potter may not be a gentleman of any sort, but he would never raise his wand on a girl, especially if that girl was you, Verona." Holland insisted. "I mean, what gryffindor would hex a poor and defenseless girl?"

"The kind that knows the girl isn't poor or defenseless," she said glaring at him resentfully. "Besides if you don't believe me, we could ask him ourselves."

She swung her bag over her shoulder and stood up to leave, "It is nearing lunch time."

The walk from the library to the Great Hall didn't take too long and by the time the pair of ravenclaws arrived, there was already a fair share of students seated and the smell of freshly baked bread and something spicy wafted through the room. Verona's eyes found the gryffindor table and scanned up and down it's length searching for a head of messy jet black hair.

"There he is," she nodded, having spotted her handsome ex-boyfriend currently seated towards the far end surrounded by his three usual companions, roaring with laughter at something Sirius had said.

"James," she called as she approached and when he turned to see her approaching, a fond twinkle lit up in his hazel eyes and the usual butterflies erupted in her stomach. _Stupid, sodding __Lepidoptera in my intestines_, she thought bitterly.

"Remus, Peter and," she cleared her throat sharply, "Sirius." They waved back in greeting (if you counted Sirius' hand spasm as a wave).

"What's up, Ronnie?" he grinned easily, reaching a hand to ruffle his hair. He looked past her shoulder and said, "Alright, Rutherford? Ready for the game this Sunday, or rather your inevitable loss?"

Holland was quick to retort with, "They say arrogance masks insecurities, Potter. Scared?"

"You've been all talk, no action for the last five years, Rutherford, so forgive us if we're not all shaking in our boots," Sirius butted in, a goading smirk on his face.

Oh, _honestly._ It was just a ruddy _game_.

"While I'd love to watch you banter all day boys, I'm here with a purpose." Verona stepped in, lest they started arguing in earnest. "James," she focused her attention on him, "would you hex me if I participated in The Game this Sunday as well, same as everyone else?"

"If_ you_ participated?" he repeated with wide eyes, chuckling a bit at the unexpectedness of it all, "but you never participate!"

"Hypothetically speaking, of course."

"Oh," he said, pausing to think. "well, yeah. I'd go for you first, I reckon, best to get the toughest competition out of the way fastest."

Purposefully disregarding the way her spirits were soaring sky high, she turned to look at a dejected Holland in triumph, "HA! See, I told you!" She turned back to James and pinched his cheeks playfully, "and that was such a sweet thing to say, thank you James!"

"Hands off, woman! I'd rather not catch your cooties." he jokingly reprimands, prying her fingers from his face.

Similar to how she brushed off her rush of affection for James at his statement, Verona chose to pretend she didn't see Sirius scowl from the corner of her eye as well.

Holland threw up his hands in frustration, "Fine — whatever — bloody waste of my time," he stalks off to the ravenclaw table, irritation rolling off him in waves.

She and James laughed.

"Is it true then?" the familiar voice of Marlene McKinnon comes from behind her. "Are you two back together again?" she gestured to her well-manicured hands still enclosed in James' larger ones, and almost at once they let go of each other as if burned.

"No, we aren't." Verona responds, her tone was icy even to her own ears. Being a close friend of her rival, Marlene was her enemy-by-association, but between her loud, gossipy nature and her inability to mind her own damned business, it wasn't that hard to dislike Marlene on her own. "Although, surely I can't say the same for you. Tell me, who's the unlucky victim of your affections for this month?

"Watch how you speak to her!"

Speak of the she-devil, and she shall appear. Where McKinnon went, her partner in crime was sure to be nearby.

"I'll speak to her any way I want," smirked Verona. "Remind me again, what business is it of yours, Evans?"

Lily Evans, supposedly one of the brightest witches of her age, stood with her hips jutted to the side and her arms crossed over her chest. With long, wavy hair a coppery-red shade and the horrid temper to match, her green eyes were narrowed in loathing as she looked at Verona like an angry fury that had escaped from the underworld. She was probably the only witch Verona could see as a legitimate threat to her status of queen bee, as they were nearly equal in their strengths, but the similarities ended there. Other than their shared talent for greatness, the two girls couldn't hold more opposing values and had therefore come to despise one another. Their rivalry was only second to that of James Potter and Severus Snape.

"Here we go again," Remus mutters under his breath seemingly tired of the power struggles between them.

"She's my friend, so I'm bloody well making it my business," she spits angrily. She was making a mountain out of a molehill, per usual, but Verona wasn't complaining. She'd gladly take any chance she could get to annoy Evans. The girl just got riled up so quickly, it was amusing (she thinks it's a gene that comes with the redhead package).

Verona brings her hands together in a sarcastic, slow clap. "Well aren't you just a Saint! What do you expect for standing up for McKinnon, hm? A gold star? Perhaps a cookie?"

She could tell it was working the way Evans' chewed the inside of her cheek, a habit she's noticed in her, that shows she's annoyed. "Of course you wouldn't understand that friends stick up for each other out of love seeing as the only people who would willingly talk to you are the ones you pay to."

Verona could feel herself getting angrier and her hand inched closer to her robe pocket where her wand was stashed.

"Okay, okay settle ladies, you're both pretty," James intervened loudly, situating himself like a human barrier between Evans and her as if they were going to lash out at each other. Which was ridiculous, because they weren't _animals_, just two extremely gifted, angry women equipped with able wands and a vast knowledge of jinxes.

"Let's all just calm down and go our separate ways, yeah?" he said with an overly large and artificial smile plastered on his face to mask the tension, looking between the two of them.

"I don't need you of all people to tell me what to do, Potter," Evans snapped venomously.

Verona nearly laughed right then and there — partly because, ironically enough, she agreed with Evans, and partly due to James' bewildered face at her brusqueness — but managed to hold it in. She'd rather begin her lunch at this point than continue her verbal boxing match with the girl, and smiling now would certainly enrage her further.

"I'm not trying to boss you around," he spoke seriously, which was a strange tone for him. "I just don't want you getting hurt fighting each other," he looked at Verona with worried eyes. She wanted to roll her eyes, as if she would let Lily Evans get under her skin.

"Fine. I wanted to start lunch anyway." said Verona in the most condescending way she could manage.

Evans sneered at her, "Got your lapdog to hide behind again, I see. I don't know what he sees in you, you're pathetic, but I suppose he came to his senses seeing as he's chucked you."

Verona wouldn't say she was a short-tempered person, quite the opposite actually, she could always keep her composure in the face of the enemy and manage to make them lose without breaking a sweat. She wouldn't say she was easily surprised either, it took a lot to shock her after everything she'd seen and heard.

But now, Verona was staring both in fury and shock at a red faced Lily Evans, who wore a look of regret the moment the words had escaped her mouth.

Verona noticed that a unanimous hush had befallen on the entire Great Hall and she could feel all the eyes burning holes into the back of her head. For the first time since they were eleven, Verona didn't have a witty comeback for her rival.

_Lily Evans had never been in love_, she told herself. Lily Evans doesn't understand the pain of losing the one person you'd think you'd have forever. She doesn't know what it was like, having to be sensational, having to be faultless, having to be perfect to make sure that the person that brought out the best in you didn't notice the worst in you. And most of all, she doesn't understand the fear of that being the reason they leave; the fear that _he_ had seen her for who she truly was, _a born thistle masquerading as a rose_, and decided he wanted nothing to do with her.

"Evans!" James bellowed, shock coloring his voice more than anger. This was followed by more cries of outrage on her behalf, but everyone's voices melded together to sound like a distant buzz of static.

"Verona," someone whispered in her ear. Sirius' cloudy eyes bore into hers when she turned to face him. He had one arm wrapped around her waist and he raised another to cup her face, a gentle look on his face.

"Come on," he said softly, slipping his hand into hers. He pulled her around James, who was furiously shouting something at Evans and past everyone's prying eyes, out the double doors and to a secluded area of the corridor.

Verona felt rather stupid, maybe she was exaggerating things out of proportion. Maybe for once, the roles had been reversed and it was Evans exploiting her weaknesses and she was being the oversensitive one.

"Stop that," Sirius snapped at her.

Her brows furrowed, "Excuse me? Stop what?"

"You think you're overreacting." he frowned, "but you're not. What Evans said crossed a line and you're not stupid for being hurt by it."

It was unfair, really, how easily Sirius could read her emotions but she couldn't pick up a damn thing from him.

"How do you know me so well," she muttered sounding awfully like a petulant child, "it's kind of creepy."

He laughed, it was a short bark-like sound that carried in the empty corridor and cleared some of the air. The two stood merely stood there, side by side, with their backs up against the wall in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence though, it was the quiet that was preferred by her. He didn't ask her to talk about her feelings and he didn't threaten to bring her Evans' head on a silver platter. Instead Sirius offered her company while she silently gathered what remained of her wits.

"I want revenge."

It was a three letter sentence that Verona spoke in such a casual manner, it was almost like she was stating that the sky was blue.

"What's the plan?"

She smiled genuinely at Sirius, that boy was anything if not loyal. "I'm joining the scavenger hunt."

Sirius shook his head, "Fat lot of good that'll do for you. Evans isn't participating, you know how she despises anything the marauders are part of."

Verona nodded, well aware. "Well then, I suppose we'll have to change that won't we?"

He looks up, grinning like the devil, "I suppose we will."

The two settled into comfortable silence again.

"Sirius?"

"Verona," he says in a similar way and her lips twitch.

"I'm glad you're talking to me again...and I'm sorry...about last year."

"I'm not." She looked at him uncomprehendingly, so he repeats himself. "I'm not sorry for sleeping with you, Verona, and you shouldn't be either. You and James were broken up."

"For an hour, Sirius. It had only been 62 bloody minutes since I'd been single, it was wrong." she insisted. Last year when James had broken up with her and offered no explanation, Verona was devastated to say the least. Still, it was no excuse to run off and shag someone else within the same day, let alone the same hour, that too his best mate!

"Technically, there's nothing wrong with what we did, so you don't have to feel guilty," he told her.

"Morally, what we did was wrong on several levels." she countered. Sirius nodded, "Doesn't matter now though, it's in the past and it's not like there were feelings involved."

Verona was almost offended at how casually he had brushed off their sex. It was her first time, which she had always thought would be with James and they would go on to get married later, but instead she had lost her virginity to a boy who did the deed at least twice a month with some new bird, so she couldn't help but feel extremely embarrassed. But what he was saying was true, he was slightly tipsy on some stolen firewhisky (from where he got it though, she hasn't a clue) and a teenage boy with raging hormones, and she was a heartbroken and lonely teenage girl. There were no feelings between the two of them, they had just been in the same place, at the same time, with the same needs.

"You're right, it doesn't matter because it'll never happen again." she said with conviction.

Sirius shrugged, he cocked his head to the side so the longer strands of his black hair fell into his eyes. Her eyes didn't miss the way his tongue slid over his chapped lips.

The familiar feeling of lust was stirring in her gut and her mind was still spinning by what had gone down at lunch. She noticed the broom closet within a few feet of them.

He continued to gaze at her intensely and had an arrogant smirk playing on his lips as if he knew exactly what kind of thoughts were racing through her head at the moment. She realized he probably did, since he seemed to be the only person in the world that could read her emotions like an open book.

Verona swallowed. "It'll never happen again after today."

She yanked Sirius forward by his loosely knotted tie and he dipped his head down so their lips collided in the middle. Sirius wastes no time in encircling his arms around her waist and pulling her flush against his solid chest and Verona smiles into the kiss as her own fingers curl into his hair. They stumbled into the broomcloset, still liplocked and invigorated with passion, there was no going back now. She could think of a thousand problems that would arise after, but she'd figured since she'd have to face those issues regardless, she might as well get some enjoyment beforehand.

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_Hi again! I reread the last chapter after it was published and found so many typos and it annoyed me so much, but eh what can you do :/ pls ignore any typos/grammatical issues in future chapters, I apologize in advance (i don't proofread). But thank you for the people that reviewed, followed, and favorited the story despite the rocky start, ily 3_

_That said, here's chapter 2! How is it? I'm going to stick to canon as much as I can (though it may not seem that way so far hahah) and since it's fifth year, the marauders aren't animagi yet, Lily and Snape are still friends, and James still hasn't asked out Lily (ik a lot of ppl's takes on Jily is that James was in love at first sight, but in the DH it seems that Lily was unaware of his crush until 4th/5th year, so I'm going to do my take/spin on it). I'd also like to mention, this is all written in Verona's pov so you'll see the characters through her biased eyes, this doesn't mean that is who they are. You'll also learn more about Verona's personality and background through snippets as the story continues rather than me forcing all the information on you in the first chapter cuz I thought it was more realistic this way._

_yikes this author's note is getting waaay to long so thanks for reading, until the next one!_


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